The Shakespeares of sport
Hey everyone, before I get into writing this piece, I just wanted to say that I hope you’re all staying safe and staying home in these troubling times. It is a collective effort that will help us get through this difficult period, let’s keep our spirits high, stay informed and stay safe. Take care.
Sport is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? It is a great escape for most of us from our daily lives and to become lost for the particular duration of the match that is being played in front of our eyes. It is almost as though for that time, everything else fades away and it’s just you, living in the moment watching your favourite player, team or country battle it out against the opposition.
There are so many moments from different sports that one can pick out and think of as iconic. Each of us has our favourites, there are moments that are underrated and there are some that are overrated, however, they all remain permanently etched into the spectrum of sporting moments that have defined generations.
For me personally, the very first iconic sporting moment that I can recollect is my country India winning the first-ever T20 World Cup. In front of a sellout crowd at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, India and Pakistan created a moment of history, a moment of magic.
It was the final over of the game with Pakistan needing 12 runs from the over, India’s young captain at the time, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had entrusted the responsibility to the all-rounder from Rohtak, Joginder Singh.
For Pakistan, the brilliant Misbah Ul-Haq was on strike. After a first dot ball, Misbah lashed the second one high into the bright blue skies for a six, the Pakistani supporters celebrating, they were on cloud nine. But the story was not done just yet.
On comms at the time was former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri. It is a very general norm in Cricket and in some ways across all sports that former sportsmen become commentators and we find them more in number when compared to those who have always been commentators their entire professional career. Anywho, back to the moment.
Joginder Singh jogs up to bowl, and as Misbah adjusts himself to scoop it up in the air, this happens —
Rewatching this moment, I recall sitting on the sofa in the hall of our home, with my family and all of us eagerly watching and praying. None of us have moved since the match has begun, each picking our lucky seats and sticking there.
And when the moment came, it was pure ecstasy, even as I write these words in trying to describe the moment, it was just pure bliss, all of us screaming and shouting, for that moment, it seemed as though nothing else mattered, all the problems of the world had come to a standstill and still as I hear Ravi Shastri’s words in the above video, it sends chills down my spine.
A commentator has so much pressure to deliver if you really think about it. For every middle-class family in this world that is fortunate enough to watch live television, there are thousands that cannot. For those people that cannot watch and only listen, the commentators need to deliver. It is not just about simple words, it is about bringing the feeling of that moment into the listener’s ears first and then their heart.
When we talk about commentators, even in a global sense, Harsha Bhogle is one of the first names that comes to mind. When I think of perfect commentators, that combine the skill of story-telling expertly with some eagle-eyed analysis, he is the first name off my tongue.
There are several great commentators, for NBA, there is Kevin Harlan, for F1 racing there’s David Croft and while I’m not aware of each and every one of them, there are a few common elements in them all that make them so great.
It is the ability to make the person who isn’t watching, to make them feel as though they’re there living in the moment with the fans, I think that is what makes a terrific commentator. You need to be able to tell the story of the game in a way that reaches out to the soul of the fan that is hungry to know what is going on out there.
Regardless of whether or not you’re a football fan, you’ve heard of Diego Maradona. But not all of us know or are familiar with the man behind the microphone describing one of Maradona’s greatest goals. In this instance, it’s Victor Hugo Morales —
“ GENIO, GENIO, GENIO”, I can’t think of too many superlatives to describe the man from Argentina.
My personal favourite though is Peter Drury.
He did a very interesting interview with 90min football recently, which is a very insightful watch into what goes into the world of commentary —
Right up there in terms of the story-telling ability, Peter Drury is just something else entirely. Whenever you think of the best commentators, especially in football, he is the first name on everyone’s mind and rightly so.
Not all commentators are great and some have the tendency to over-analyse games or engage in some conversations on-air that may or may not seem relevant to the viewers and listeners.
Good commentators know that there is a fine line between being a commentator and being a live analyst, and they have to focus on bringing a certain balance to the table, which Peter Drury does really well.
Another talent that commentators have is to add more life and make a moment larger with their sheer tone and speech. Words have such power over the mind and soul that you can be left absolutely breathless after listening to someone who can really capture your feelings in that moment.
Another trip down the memory lane, this time again to South Africa. It is the FIFA World Cup and the host nation South Africa are taking on Mexico in the opening game of the World Cup and this happens —
This is one of the most iconic moments in South African footballing history and in the history of sport in the grander scale of things. Siphiwe Tshabalala’s goal combined with Peter Drury’s words in that moment will echo forever in the halls of football history.
It is quite amazing if you think about it, how powerful someone’s words can be, to bring you to tears, to take you away from the place you’re in and to be living in another moment itself.
That is what great commentators do, at their heart, they are great story-tellers and every great moment deserves a great story-teller. They are the Shakespeares of sport, depicting to us, the unforgettable moments with their magical words, moving our hearts and shaping our emotions.
Let me know below which commentator resonates with you the most and who you enjoy listening to.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, hope that this small piece brings back fond memories for you and brings some positive vibes in these difficult times.
Once again, I wish you all well and good health to you and your families, until next time.
